Electronic apparatus, method for controlling thereof and computer readable recording medium

ABSTRACT

An electronic apparatus is provided. The electronic apparatus includes a memory, a microphone and a processor configured to compare a volume of a voice input through the microphone and a standard voice volume stored in the memory, corresponding to a space in which the electronic apparatus is located, and identify whether to perform a voice recognition on the voice based on the comparison.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0165364, filed on Dec. 4, 2017,in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Field

The disclosure relates to an electronic apparatus, a controlling methodthereof, and a computer readable recording medium, and moreparticularly, to an electronic apparatus that automatically determines,from among a plurality of electronic apparatuses, an electronicapparatus to be controlled with voice recognition, a controlling methodthereof, and a computer readable recording medium.

Description of Related Art

Many households have multiple televisions (TVs) in the same room, andmany rooms within the same house have multiple TVs.

Various remote controlling methods have been used so that a user doesnot have to directly manipulate a button included in a TV. However,various problems exist with these methods when a TV to be controlled isin the same room as other TVs.

Specifically, when using a remote control that transmits an infrared ray(IR) signal, the transmission scope is very broad, and thus it isdifficult to selectively transmit the signal to a specific TV.Accordingly, there is an inconvenience that multiple TVs in theoperation scope of a remote controller operate based on an IR signal atthe same time.

In addition, when using a remote control using a short range wirelesstechnology such as Bluetooth, a number of Bluetooth remote controllersthat are respectively paired with a number of TVs are required.Accordingly, there is an inconvenience that a user has to find theremote controller paired with the TV to be controlled and operate theremote controller.

In addition, if a voice signal is used, there is a problem that all TVswhich could react to the same voice command.

Accordingly, there is a need of technology for controlling only one TVamong a plurality of TVs.

SUMMARY

Provided is an electronic apparatus that automatically determines theelectronic apparatus to be controlled with voice recognition from amonga plurality of electronic apparatuses which could recognize a voice, acontrolling method thereof, and a computer readable recording medium.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided anelectronic apparatus including: a memory; a microphone; and a processorconfigured to compare a volume of a voice input through the microphoneand a standard voice volume stored in the memory, corresponding to aspace in which the electronic apparatus is located, and identify whetherto perform a voice recognition on the voice based on the comparison.

The processor may be further configured to perform the voice recognitionon the voice based on the volume of the voice being greater than thestandard voice volume.

The electronic apparatus may further include a communication interface,and the processor may be further configured to identify, based onanother electronic apparatus connected through the communicationinterface indicating detection of the voice, whether to perform thevoice recognition based on a predetermined priority order.

The processor may be further configured to set the predeterminedpriority order based on at least one from among a placement location ofthe electronic apparatus and the another electronic apparatus, arecognition result on the voice, and a user manipulation.

The processor may be further configured to: activate, based on the voicebeing input through the microphone while in a standby mode, thecommunication interface; convert, based on identifying that the voicerecognition on the voice is to be performed, a mode of the electronicapparatus into a normal mode in which an entire configuration of theelectronic apparatus is activated; and inactivate, based on identifyingthat the voice recognition on the voice is not to be performed, thecommunication interface.

The electronic apparatus may further include a sensor configured tosense a size of the space in which the electronic apparatus is located.

The electronic apparatus may further include a display, and theprocessor may be further configured to, based on identifying that thevoice recognition on the voice is to be performed, control the displayto display a UI screen requesting a confirmation on whether to performthe voice recognition.

The processor may be further configured to, based on the confirmationnot being received within a predetermined time after displaying the UIscreen, not perform the voice recognition on the voice, and control thecommunication interface to transmit information to the anotherelectronic apparatus indicating the confirmation has not been received.

The electronic apparatus may further include: a sensor; and acommunication interface, and the processor may be further configured to,based on another electronic apparatus connected through thecommunication interface indicating detection of the voice, identify anutterance direction of a user by using the sensor, and identify whetherto perform the voice recognition based on the utterance direction.

The electronic apparatus may further include a communication interfaceconfigured to receive size information from a sensor configured to sensea size of the space in which the electronic apparatus is located.

The processor may be further configured to, based on identifying thevoice as a trigger voice, perform the voice recognition withoutcomparing the voice input through the microphone with the standard voicevolume.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided amethod for controlling an electronic apparatus, the method including:receiving a voice input through a microphone of the electronicapparatus; comparing a volume of the voice and a standard voice volumecorresponding to a space in which the electronic apparatus is located;and identifying whether to perform a voice recognition on the voicebased on the comparing.

The method may further include, based on the volume of the voice beinggreater than the standard voice volume, recognizing the voice.

The identifying may include, based on another electronic apparatusindicating detection of the voice, whether to perform the voicerecognition based on a predetermined priority order.

The method may further include setting the predetermined priority orderbased on at least one from among a placement location of the electronicapparatus and the another electronic apparatus, a recognition result onthe voice, and a user manipulation.

The method may further include sensing a size of the space in which theelectronic apparatus is located.

The method may further include: identifying, based on another electronicapparatus indicating detection of the voice; and identifying anutterance direction of a user, and the identifying whether to performthe voice recognition may be based on the utterance direction.

The method may further include receiving size information from a sensorconfigured to sense a size of the space in which the electronicapparatus is located.

The identifying may include performing the voice recognition based onidentifying the voice as a trigger voice.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided anon-transitory computer readable recording medium having embodiedthereon a program, which when executed by a processor of an electronicapparatus, causes the electronic apparatus to execute a methodincluding: receiving a voice input through a microphone of theelectronic apparatus; comparing a volume of the voice and a standardvoice volume corresponding to a space in which the electronic apparatusis located; and identifying whether to perform a voice recognition onthe voice based on the comparing.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided anelectronic apparatus including: a memory; an interface; and a processorconfigured to identify whether to perform a voice recognition on a voicesignal received through the interface based on a standard voice leveland the voice signal.

The processor may be further configured to perform the voice recognitionon the voice signal based on a level of the voice signal exceeding thestandard voice level.

The processor may be further configured to perform the voice recognitionon the voice signal based on a level of the voice signal exceeding thestandard voice level and corresponding to a trigger command.

The processor may be further configured to identify a direction of auser based on the voice signal, and identify whether to perform thevoice recognition on the voice signal based on the direction.

The processor may be further configured to control the interface tonotify another electronic apparatus that the voice signal has beenreceived, receive a notification from the other electronic apparatusindicating whether the other electronic apparatus has received the voicesignal, and identify whether to perform the voice recognition on thevoice signal based on the notification received from the otherelectronic apparatus.

The electronic apparatus may further include a display, and theprocessor may be further configured to identify whether to perform thevoice recognition by controlling a confirmation screen to be displayedon the display based on the voice signal being received, and aconfirmation voice signal received through the interface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a brief configuration of anelectronic apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of anelectronic apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an embodiment in which an electronicapparatus identifies a structure of a space;

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are views illustrating a driving of a case in whicha voice is input to an electronic apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating identification of an electronic apparatusto be controlled by voice recognition;

FIGS. 6 to 8 are views illustrating an electronic apparatus to becontrolled by voice recognition according to various embodiments; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a controlling method of anelectronic apparatus according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference tothe drawings. In the following description, known configurations may beomitted. In addition, the following embodiments may be modified intovarious other forms, and the scope of the technical spirit of thepresent disclosure is not limited to the following examples. Rather,these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will bemore thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of thetechnical spirit of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Terms used in the present disclosure are selected in consideration ofthe configuration and functions of the present disclosure, but can bedifferent depending on intention of those skilled in the art, aprecedent, appearance of new technologies, and the like. Further, inspecific cases, terms may be arbitrarily selected. In this case, themeaning of the terms will be described in the description of thecorresponding embodiments. Accordingly, the terms used in thedescription should not necessarily be construed as simple names of theterms, but be defined based on meanings of the terms and overallcontents of the present disclosure.

The embodiments may vary, and may be provided in different embodiments.Various embodiments will be described with reference to accompanyingdrawings. However, this is not intended to limit the scope to anembodiment, and therefore, it should be understood that all themodifications, equivalents or substitutes included under the inventiveconcept and technical scope are encompassed. In describing theembodiments, well-known functions or constructions may not be describedin detail.

As used herein, the terms “1st” or “first” and “2nd” or “second” may usecorresponding components regardless of importance or order and are usedto distinguish one component from another without limiting thecomponents.

As used herein, expressions such as “at least one from among,” whenpreceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and donot modify the individual elements of the list. For example, theexpression, “at least one from among a, b, and c,” should be understoodas including only a, only b, only c, both a and b, both a and c, both band c, or all of a, b, and c.

Singular forms are intended to include plural forms unless the contextclearly indicates otherwise. In the embodiments, the terms “include” and“comprise” designate the presence of features, numbers, steps,operations, components, elements, or a combination thereof that arewritten in the specification, but do not exclude the presence orpossibility of addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps,operations, components, elements, or a combination thereof.

In an embodiment, ‘a module’ or ‘a unit’ performs at least one functionor operation, and may be realized as hardware, software, or combinationthereof. In addition, a plurality of ‘modules’ or ‘units’ may beintegrated into at least one module and may be realized as at least oneprocessor in an integrated manner. Further, some ‘modules’ or ‘units’may be realized in specific hardware.

Hereinafter certain embodiments will now be described in greater detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings to enable those skilled inthe art to work the same with ease. However, embodiments may be realizedin a variety of different configurations, and not limited todescriptions provided herein. Further, those that are irrelevant withthe description are omitted so as to describe embodiments more clearly,and similar drawing reference numerals are used for the similar elementsthroughout the description.

Below, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to theattached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a brief configuration of anelectronic apparatus according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic apparatus 100 includes a memory 110,a microphone 120, and a processor 130.

The electronic apparatus 100 may include a display apparatus such as apersonal computer (PC), a TV, and a mobile apparatus. If the electronicapparatus 100 does not include a display, the electronic apparatus 100may include a set top box.

The memory 110 may be implemented as a storing medium in the electronicapparatus 100 and an external storing medium, for example, to aremovable disk including a universal serial bus (USB) memory, a webserver via network, and the like. Specifically, the memory 110 mayinclude a hard disk, a solid-state drive (SSD), a memory card, aread-only memory (ROM), USB memory and the like.

The memory 110 may store the information on a standard voice volumecorresponding to the structure of the space in which the electronicapparatus 100 is located. The structure of the space may include thesize and shape of the space in which the electronic apparatus 100 islocated.

The standard voice volume may be input by a user or an installationengineer, etc., when installing the electronic apparatus 100. Thestandard voice volume may be determined based on the structure of thespace sensed by a sensor.

The memory 110 may store the information on the structure of the spacesensed by the sensor. Specifically, the memory may store the informationon the size and shape of the space in which the sensed electronicapparatus 100 is located, and the like. The size of the space may meanthe distance between the electronic apparatus 100 and a boundary of thespace.

In addition, the memory 110 may store the information on the voice ofanother electronic apparatus received through a communication interface140 or the information on the voice input through a microphone 120.

The microphone 120 may receive a voice. Specifically, the microphone 120may receive a voice from an outside and convert the voice into a voicesignal which can be processed in the electronic apparatus 100.

The microphone 120 may be included in the electronic apparatus 100.Also, an additional microphone apparatus may be connected to theelectronic apparatus 100. Specifically, the additional microphone may beconnected to the electronic apparatus 100 in a wired manner orwirelessly. Specifically, if connected wirelessly, the microphone 120may be a microphone which is included in a mobile apparatus connected toan electronic apparatus 100 such as a remote controller or a smartphone,etc.

The processor 130 may determine whether to recognize the voice inputthrough the microphone 120. Voice recognition may indicate technologythat converts an acoustic signal of the voice input through themicrophone 120 into a word or a sentence.

Specifically, the processor 130 may compare the standard voice volumestored in the memory 110 and the volume of the voice input through themicrophone 120, and determine whether to recognize the voice inputthrough the microphone 120. For example, if the volume of the voiceinput through the microphone 120 exceeds the standard voice volumestored in the memory, the processor may identify to recognize the voiceinput through the microphone.

If the microphone 120 is a microphone included in the mobile apparatusconnected to the electronic apparatus 100 such as a remote controller ora smartphone, etc., if it is determined that a user has an intension toinput through the microphone included in the mobile apparatus connectedto the electronic apparatus 100, the processor 130 may determine toperform a voice recognition on the input voice.

For example, if a user inputs a voice while pushing a microphone buttonof a remote controller or a smartphone connected to the electronicapparatus 100, the processor 130 determines that a user wishes tomanipulate the electronic apparatus 100, and determines to recognize theinput voice prior to another electronic apparatus. That is, if a userpushes a microphone button of a smartphone or a remote controllerconnected to the electronic apparatus 100 and input a voice, even in acase in which a user deviates from the space in which the electronicapparatus 100 that a user wishes to control is located, it may bedetermined to perform a voice recognition in the electronic apparatus100. A user may assign a priority to each electronic apparatus 100, andthe priority may be changed by the setting of a user.

Also, if it is determined that the voice recognition on the input voiceis to be performed, the processor 130 may perform a voice recognition onthe input voice. In addition, the processor 130 may perform an eventcorresponding to the result of the voice recognition. Specifically, as aresult of the voice recognition, if the voice input through themicrophone 120 is a control command, the processor 130 may perform anoperation corresponding to the control command.

The processor 130 may perform an event corresponding to the result ofthe voice recognition when a predetermined trigger voice is inputthrough the microphone 120. Specifically, when it is determined theinput voice is a trigger voice as a result of the voice recognitionregarding the input voice, the processor 130 may perform an eventcorresponding to the voice recognition result such as activating theelectronic apparatus 100 and the like.

If it is determined to perform a voice recognition on the input triggervoice, the processor 130 may perform a voice recognition withoutcomparing the following voice input through the microphone 120 with thestandard voice volume.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a specific configuration of theelectronic apparatus of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic apparatus 100 may include the memory110, the microphone 120, the processor 130, the communication interface140, the sensor 150 and the display 160.

The memory 110 and the microphone 120 are the same configuration withthe microphone 120 illustrated in FIG. 1, and thus overlappingdescription will be omitted.

The processor 130 may include a random access memory (RAM) 131, a ROM132, a central processing unit (CPU) 133, a graphics processing unit(GPU) 134, a bus 135 and the like. The RAM 131, the ROM 132, the CPU133, and the GPU 134 may be connected to one another through the bus135.

The CPU 133 accesses the memory 110 and performs booting using anoperating system (O/S) stored in the memory 110. The CPU 133 performsvarious operations by using various types of programs, contents, anddata, etc. stored in the memory 110.

The ROM 132 stores a set of commands for system booting. When a turn-oncommand is input and power is provided, the CPU 133 may copy the O/Sstored in the memory 110 to the RAM 131 according to the command storedin the ROM 132 and execute the O/S for booting the system. When thebooting is completed, the CPU 133 may copy various programs stored inthe memory 110 to the RAM 131 and execute the programs copied in the RAM131 to perform various operations.

The GPU 134 may display a UI on the display 160 when the booting of theelectronic apparatus 100 is completed. Specifically, the GPU 134 maygenerate a screen including various objects such as an icon, an image, atext, and the like using a computing unit and a renderer. The computingunit may compute attribute values such as coordinates, shape, size, andcolor of each object to be displayed according to the layout of thescreen. The renderer may generate screens with various layouts includingobjects based on the attribute value calculated in the operation unit.The screens (or user interface window) generated in the renderer may beprovided to the display, and displayed on each of a main display areaand a sub display area. It has been described that the image processingoperation is performed by the GPU 134, but in an implementation, theoperation may be performed by the CPU 133 or the GPU 134.

The communication interface 140 may be a transceiver (transmitter andreceiver) that communicates with various types of external apparatusesaccording to various types of communication methods. Specifically, thecommunication interface 140 may communicate with an external apparatussuch as a remote controller, an external server, an external speakerapparatus, another electronic apparatus and the like. The otherelectronic apparatus may be located in the space divided from the spacein which the electronic apparatus 100 is located. For example, if theelectronic apparatus 100 is located in a living room, the otherelectronic apparatus may be located in a bedroom. The number of theother apparatus may be more than one.

In a standby mode, the communication interface 140 is in an inactivestate and the microphone 120 and the processor 130 are activated. Whenthe voice is input through the microphone 120, the communicationinterface 140 may be activated by a control of the processor 130.Thereafter, if it is determined that the electronic apparatus 100 doesnot perform a voice recognition on the input voice, the communicationinterface 140 may be placed in an inactive state by a control of theprocessor 130. The operation of various elements of the electronicapparatus 100 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4A, 4Band 4C, below.

Specifically, the communication interface 140 may receive theinformation on an image signal, an audio signal, and an input voice froman external apparatus through a wired method such as an antenna, cable,or a port, or may receive the information on an image signal, an audiosignal, and an input voice from an external apparatus through thewireless method such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The information on thereceived input voice may be the information on whether the otherelectronic apparatus performs a voice recognition on the voice input tothe other electronic apparatus. Specifically, the information on thereceived voice may include at least one of standard voice volumeinformation based on the structure of the space in which the otherelectronic apparatus is located, information on the volume of the voiceinput by the other electronic apparatus, information on the utterancedirection of a user, and information on whether to recognize a voicedetermined based on these information.

Specifically, the other electronic apparatus may receive the same voicewith the voice input to the electronic apparatus 100 (the feature of thevoice input to each electronic apparatus, such as a volume of a voice,may be different). The other electronic apparatus may determine whetherto recognize the voice input from the other electronic apparatus basedon the structure of the space in which the other electronic apparatus islocated, and transmit the information thereon to the electronicapparatus 100.

In addition, the communication interface 140 may receive the informationon the voice input to the other electronic from the other electronicapparatus, and transmit the information on the voice input through themicrophone 120 to the other electronic apparatus. The informationtransmitted to the other electronic apparatus may include at least oneof standard voice volume information based on the structure of the spacein which the electronic apparatus 100 is located, information on thevolume of the voice input by the electronic apparatus 100, informationon the utterance direction of a user, and information on whether torecognize a voice determined based on these information. For this, theelectronic apparatus 100 and the other electronic apparatus may beconnected to the same access point (AP). The electronic apparatus 100and the other electronic apparatus may be connected to a server and inthis case, the communication interface 140 is connected to the serverand information may be shared with the other electronic apparatusthrough the connected server without going through an additional AP.

The sensor 150 may sense the structure of a space in which theelectronic apparatus 100 is located. Specifically, the sensor 150 maysense the size and shape of the space in which the electronic apparatus100 is located. The size of the space may mean the distance between theelectronic apparatus 100 and a boundary of the space.

The sensor 150 may include at least one of an ultrasonic sensor, aninfrared sensor, a color sensor, a camera and a motion sensor.Specifically, if the sensor 150 is the ultrasonic sensor or the infraredsensor, the sensor 150 may sense an ultrasonic waves or an infraredsignal emitted from the electronic apparatus 100, reflected from theboundary of the space and returned back. For example, the ultrasonicwaves or infrared signal may be emitted in all directions. The processor130 may measure the time between the emission of the ultrasonic wave orthe infrared signal and a detection of the reflected signal, anddetermine the structure of the space in which the electronic apparatus100 is located.

The sensor 150 may be an external sensor not included in the electronicapparatus 100, and the electronic apparatus 100 may receive the valuesensed from an external sensor, or the information on the standard voicevolume calculated based on the value sensed from an external sensor,through the communication interface 140.

In addition, the sensor 150 may be used to determine whether a userexists in front of the electronic apparatus 100 or an utterancedirection of a user. Specifically, movement of items in a room otherthan the user are minimal, and thus if the sensor 150 is a motionsensor, the processor 130 may sense the movement and identify whetherthe user is located in front of the electronic apparatus 100.Alternatively, if the sensor 150 is a camera, the processor 130 mayanalyze the video corresponding to the space and identify whether theuser uttered a voice toward the electronic apparatus 100. Alternatively,if the sensor 150 is an ultrasonic sensor, an emitted ultrasonic sensormay be interfered by a wave of a voice uttered by a user, and thus theprocessor 130 may identify the user's utterance direction according tothe change between the amplitude of the emitted ultrasonic wave and theamplitude of the ultrasonic wave sensed by the sensor 150 after theemitted ultrasonic wave is reflected.

The processor 130 may identify the structure of the space in which theelectronic apparatus 100 is located based on the signal sensed in thesensor 150. If the electronic apparatus 100 is initially installed, theprocessor 130 may identify the structure of the space in which theelectronic apparatus 100 is located and store the structure in thememory 110. The processor 130 may figure out the structure of the spacein which the electronic apparatus 100 is located whenever a voice isinput through the microphone 120, or at a predetermined period.

The processor 130 may determine the standard voice volume based on thestructure of the space sensed by the sensor 150. The standard voicevolume may be determined as a specific decibel (dB) level according tothe sensed size of the space. The standard voice volume may be the valuepreviously input by an installation engineer or a user, such as duringinstallation of the electronic apparatus 100.

The processor 130 may determine whether to perform a voice recognitionbased on the structure of the space sensed by the sensor 150.Specifically, if it is determined that the voice input through themicrophone 120 is uttered in the space in which the electronic apparatus100 is located, the processor 130 may perform a voice recognition on theinput voice. For example, if the volume of the voice input through themicrophone 120 is higher than the standard voice volume corresponding tothe size of the space, the processor 130 may determine that the voicehas been uttered in the space in which the electronic apparatus 100 islocated, and recognize the input voice.

If the electronic apparatus 100 stores the information on the structureof the space in which the electronic apparatus 100 is located in thememory 110, the processor 130 may determine whether the voicerecognition is to be performed on the voice input through the microphone120 using the stored information.

The processor 130 may perform an audio processing on the voice inputthrough the microphone 120 based on the structure of the space sensed bythe sensor 150. Specifically, the processor 130 may perform audioprocessing on the input voice considering an echo in the space and thevoice reflected from the boundary of the space in addition to theuttered voice, based on the size and shape of the space in which theelectronic apparatus 100 is located.

It has been described that whether to recognize a voice is determinedbased on the intensity of sound which is a volume of a voice, but in theimplementation, embodiments are not limited to the intensity of soundand the standard to determine whether to recognize a voice may be set byfurther considering various features of the voice. Specifically, theprocessor 130 may determine whether to perform a voice recognition byusing the number of vibrations and waveform of the voice in addition tothe amplitude of a voice that indicates an intensity of a voice.

The processor 130 may determine whether to perform a voice recognitionon the voice input by the microphone 120 by further consideringinformation received from another electronic apparatus by thecommunication interface 140. Specifically, it may be determined that anyone of the electronic apparatus 100 and another electronic apparatus isto perform the voice recognition. If it is determined that two or morethan two electronic apparatuses are to perform the voice recognition, anadditional operation of determining one electronic apparatus may berequired. For example, it may be possible that both of the electronicapparatus 100 and the other electronic apparatus perform a voicerecognition because the volume of the voice input through the microphone120 is higher than the standard voice volume of the electronic apparatus100, and the voice input through the other electronic apparatus ishigher than the standard voice volume of the other electronic apparatus,with regard to the same voice.

If both of the electronic apparatus 100 and the other electronicapparatus perform a voice recognition, the processor 130 may determinewhether to process the voice recognition result based on thepredetermined priority order. Specifically, if both of the electronicapparatus 100 and the other electronic apparatus perform a voicerecognition and the electronic apparatus 100 has a priority order, theprocessor 130 may perform a corresponding event according to the voicerecognition result. The other electronic apparatus may not perform avoice recognition on the input voice, or may perform a voice recognitionbut does not perform an operation according to the recognition result.

If both of the electronic apparatus 100 and the other electronicapparatus perform a voice recognition and the other electronic apparatushas a priority order, the processor 130 may not perform a voicerecognition itself or perform a voice recognition but does not performan operation according to the recognition result.

The predetermined priority order may be at least one of a dispositionlocation of the electronic apparatus 100 and the other electronicapparatus, a recognition result of the input voice, and a usermanipulation. Specifically, in a case of a general voice controlcommand, the electronic apparatus in a living room has a priority orderrather than the electronic apparatus in a room. In a case of a voicecommand related to a music display, the electronic apparatus of whichspeaker has the greater performance may have a priority order. In a caseof a voice command related to a video display, the electronic apparatuswhich has bigger screen or greater resolution may have a priority order.The electronic apparatus set to have a priority order in advance mayprocess the voice recognition result.

If both of the electronic apparatus 100 and the other electronicapparatus can perform a voice recognition, the processor 130 maydetermine whether to perform process on the voice recognition resultbased on the utterance direction of a user. Specifically, if both of theelectronic apparatus 100 and the other electronic apparatus can performa voice recognition, the processor 130 may identify the utterancedirection of a user by the sensor 150. The sensor 150 may be at leastone of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, a colorsensor, and a motion sensor.

In addition, the processor 130 may perform a voice recognition on thevoice input through the microphone 120 if it is determined that a user'sutterance direction faces the electronic apparatus 100.

In a state in which only the communication interface 140 is activatedaccording to a voice input through the microphone 120 while in a standbymode, if it is determined to perform a voice recognition on the inputvoice, the processor 130 may convert the mode from the standby mode intoa general mode which activates an entire configuration of the electronicapparatus 100. In a state in which only the communication interface 140is activated according to a voice input through the microphone 120 in astandby mode, if it is determined not to perform a voice recognition onthe input voice, the processor 130 may inactivate the activatedcommunication interface 140 and access a standby mode.

The display 160 may indicate a request to confirm whether a voicerecognition is to be performed based on the voice input through themicrophone 120. Specifically, if it is determined to perform a voicerecognition on the voice input through the microphone 120, the display160 may display a UI screen for receiving a confirmation on whether toperform a voice recognition from a user. Receiving the confirmation onwhether to perform the voice recognition may be the same meaning withthe reception of a confirmation on whether the electronic apparatus tobe controlled by a voice command is the electronic apparatus 100 thatdisplays the UI screen.

The display 160 may be implemented as various types of displays, such asa liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED)display, and a plasma display panel (PDP). The display may include adriving circuit, a backlight unit, and the like which may be implementedin forms using, for example, an amorphous silicon (a-Si)thin-film-transistor (TFT), a low temperature poly silicon (LTPS) TFT,an organic TFT (OTFT), and the like. In addition, the display may alsobe implemented as a flexible display.

If an answer is not received from a user within a predetermine timeafter displaying a UI screen requesting a confirmation on whether toperform a voice recognition, the processor 130 may not perform a voicerecognition on the input voice or perform the voice recognition but notperform an operation corresponding to the recognition result.Specifically, if an answer is not received from a user, the processor130 may determine that the electronic apparatus that a user wishes tocontrol is not the electronic apparatus that displays the UI screenregardless of the priority order, etc.

Accordingly, the processor 130 may control the communication interface140 to transmit the information on the recognition result to anotherelectronic apparatus. Accordingly, even if the electronic apparatus thata user wishes to control with a voice command and the electronicapparatus that has a priority order are not the same, the electronicapparatus that a user wishes to control with the voice command may bedetermined.

According to embodiments, the electronic apparatus 100 may not include adisplay. For example, if the electronic apparatus 100 only performssignal processing, such as a set top box and the like, the display 160may be omitted, and the processor 130 may control information to bedisplayed on the UI screen to be transmitted to an external displayapparatus via the communication interface 140 so that the externaldisplay apparatus displays the UI screen.

As described above, according to various embodiments, the electronicapparatus that a user wishes to control with a voice command may bedetermined without an additional setting in the environment in which aplurality of electronic apparatus is installed. Accordingly, theelectronic apparatus to be controlled by a voice command is determinedautomatically, and thus a user's convenience may be greatly improved.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an embodiment in which an electronicapparatus identifies a structure of a space.

Referring to FIG. 3, the first electronic apparatus 100-1 is located inthe first space 31, and the second electronic apparatus 100-2 is locatedin the second space 32 which is distinct from the first space 31. Thefirst electronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronic apparatus100-2 may each be a display apparatus such as a TV, or a set top boxthat does not include a display. Hereinafter it will be assumed that thefirst electronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronic apparatus100-2 are a TV for a convenience of explanation.

First, the first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronicapparatus 100-2 may sense the structure of the first space 31 and thesecond space 32 in which the first and the second electronic apparatusare located respectively. Specifically, the sensor 150 included in eachof the first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronicapparatus 100-2 may be used. The sensor 150 may be an ultrasonic sensor,an infrared sensor, a camera, a color sensor, and a motion sensor, etc.

Specifically, the first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the secondelectronic apparatus 100-2 may measure the distance from the firstelectronic apparatus 100-1 to an opposing wall of the first space 31 andthe distance from the second electronic apparatus 100-2 to an opposingwall of the second space 32 by using the sensor 150, and identify shapesof the first space 31 and the second space 32.

In addition, the first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the secondelectronic apparatus 100-2 may store the sensed result in the includedmemory respectively, and when a voice is input, may use the result whendetermining whether to recognize the voice.

FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C are views illustrating a driving when a voice isinput to an electronic apparatus in a standby mode.

FIG. 4A is a view illustrating an operation when the electronicapparatus 100 is in a standby mode, FIG. 4B is a view illustrating anoperation when a voice is input when the electronic apparatus 100 is ina standby mode, and FIG. 4C is a view illustrating an operation when theelectronic apparatus 100 is in a general mode.

Specifically, referring to FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C, the electronic apparatus100 may include the microphone 120, the processor 130, the communicationinterface 140, and the remaining configuration 101. The remainingconfiguration 101 is used for a convenience of description, and may meanthe configuration except for the microphone 120, the processor 130, andthe communication interface 140 from all configurations that configuresthe electronic apparatus 100.

Referring to FIG. 4A, when the electronic apparatus 100 is in a standbymode, only the microphone 120 and the processor 130 are activated, andthe communication interface 140 and the remaining configuration 101 maybe in an inactive state.

As illustrated in FIG. 4B, if a voice is input through the microphone120 when the electronic apparatus 100 is in the standby mode, theprocessor 130 may activate the communication interface 140. Onceactivated, the communication interface 140 may be used for receiving andtransmitting information with another electronic apparatus. Even if avoice is input in the standby mode, the remaining configuration 101 maystill be in an inactive state.

If the processor 130 determines to perform a voice recognition on thevoice input through the microphone 120 and determines to perform processaccording to the voice recognition result, as illustrated in FIG. 4C,the remaining configuration 101 of the electronic apparatus 100 may beactivated so that a mode may be converted into a normal mode in whichall configurations are activated.

The sensor 150 in the remaining configuration 101 may be activated fordetermining whether to perform a voice recognition on the voice inputthrough the microphone 120. In addition, if the processor 130 determinesto perform the voice recognition on the voice input through themicrophone 120, the display in the remaining configuration 101 may beactivated to display the UI screen for receiving a confirmation onwhether to perform the voice recognition from a user before accessing ageneral mode.

If the processor 130 determines not to perform a voice recognition onthe voice input through the microphone 120, the communication interface140 is inactivated and the electronic apparatus 100 may access thestandby mode again as illustrated in FIG. 4A.

As illustrated above, by determining whether to perform a voicerecognition and whether to process the voice recognition result, onlythe electronic apparatus that a user wishes to control with a voicecommand reacts to the voice command, and thus a user convenience may begreatly improved.

In addition, according to the determination on whether to perform avoice recognition and whether to process the voice recognition result,the configuration is activated in order, power consumption may bereduced.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating identification of an electronic apparatusto be controlled by a voice recognition.

Referring to FIG. 5, the first electronic apparatus 100-1 is located inthe first space 31, and the second electronic apparatus 100-2 is locatedin the second space 32 divided from the first space 31. The user 10 islocated in the first space 31 in which the first electronic apparatus100-1 is located, but may control the second electronic apparatus 100-2located in the second space 32 with a voice.

The first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronic apparatus100-2 may each determine an utterance direction of the user respectivelyand determine whether to perform a control according to the voice of theuser 10 based on the utterance direction.

Specifically, each of the first electronic apparatus 100-1 and thesecond electronic apparatus 100-2 may determine the utterance directionof the user by using an equipped sensor 150. For example, if the firstelectronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronic apparatus 100-2include a camera as a sensor 150, when the user 10 utters a voice, afront image may be captured. Each of the first electronic apparatus100-1 and the second electronic apparatus 100-2 may analyze the capturedfront image and determine the direction that the user 10 is looking. Assuch, based on the determination on the direction that the user 10 islooking, the first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronicapparatus 100-2 may determine the direction to which the user 10uttered.

If each of the first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the secondelectronic apparatus 100-2 includes an ultrasonic sensor as a sensor150, the ultrasonic wave having the size of predetermined amplitude in apredetermined period. An interference may occur between the voice of theuser 10 and the emitted ultrasonic wave. Accordingly, between the firstelectronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronic apparatus 100-2,the electronic apparatus that senses the ultrasonic wave having theamplitude different from the size of the emitted ultrasonic wave maydetermine that the user 10 is looking the electronic apparatus andperform a voice recognition.

As described above, by determining whether to perform the voicerecognition based on the utterance direction of the user in addition tothe structure of the space in which the electronic apparatus is located,the electronic apparatus that the user wishes to control with a voice isable to be determined more accurately.

FIGS. 6 to 8 are views illustrating identification of electronicapparatus to be controlled by voice recognition according to variousembodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates identification of a standard voice volume accordingto the structure of a sensed space according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6, the first electronic apparatus 100-1 may sense thestructure of the first space 31 in which the electronic apparatus 100-1is located, and determine the standard voice volume based on thestructure of the first space 31. Specifically, the first electronicapparatus 100-1 may determine the standard voice volume based on thesize of the first space 31. The standard voice volume may be a standardto determine that a voice is generated in the first space 31. Inaddition, the first electronic apparatus 100-1 may set the area 61 inwhich a voice recognition may be performed based on the determinedstandard voice volume.

In FIG. 6, the standard voice volume may be determined based on thepoint farthest away from the first electronic apparatus 100-1 in thefirst space, and the first space 31 and the space beyond the first space31 may be included in the area 61 in which the first electronicapparatus 100-1 may perform a voice recognition. However, embodimentsare not limited thereto, and the standard voice volume may be determinedbased on various standards, and the size of the space in which the voicerecognition may be performed may be adjusted.

In addition, using a similar operation with the above describedoperation of the first electronic apparatus 100-1, the second electronicapparatus 100-2 may sense the structure of the second space 32 in whichthe second electronic apparatus 100-2 is located, and determine thestandard voice volume based on the structure of the sensed second space32. Specifically, the second electronic apparatus 100-2 may sense thestructure of the second space 32 and determine the standard voice volumebased on the size of the second space 32. The standard voice volume maybe the voice volume which is a standard to determine that a voice isgenerated in the second space 32. In addition, the second electronicapparatus 100-2 may set the area 62 in which a voice recognition may beperformed based on the determined standard voice volume.

In FIG. 6, the standard voice volume may be determined based on thepoint farthest away from the second electronic apparatus 100-2 in thesecond space 32, and the second space 32 and the space beyond the secondspace 32 may be included in the area 62 in which the second electronicapparatus 100-2 may perform a voice recognition. However, embodimentsare not limited thereto, and the standard voice volume is determinedbased on various standards, and the size of the space in which the voicerecognition may be performed may be adjusted.

The first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronic apparatus100-2 may share the information on the area in which the voicerecognition may be performed. Specifically, the first electronicapparatus 100-1 and the second electronic apparatus 100-2 may share theinformation on the standard voice volume.

An overlapping area 63 of the area 61 in which the first electronicapparatus 100-1 may perform a voice recognition and the area 62 in whichthe second electronic apparatus 100-2 may perform a voice recognitionmay exist. If a user uttered a voice in the overlapping area 63, both ofthe first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronic apparatus100-2 may perform a voice recognition. This will be described in detailreferring to FIG. 8 in below.

FIG. 7 illustrates identification of an electronic apparatus to performa voice recognition when the area 61 in which the first electronicapparatus 100-1 may perform a voice recognition and the area 62 in whichthe second electronic apparatus 100-2 may perform a voice recognitionare set, according to an embodiment.

The area 61 in which the first electronic apparatus 100-1 may perform avoice recognition is determined based on the structure of the firstspace 31 in which the first electronic apparatus 100-1 is located, andthe area 62 in which the second electronic apparatus 100-2 may perform avoice recognition is determined based on the structure of the secondspace 32 in which the second electronic apparatus 100-2 is located.

Referring to FIG. 7, the user 10 may utter in the area 61 in which thefirst electronic apparatus 100-1 may perform a voice recognition butbeyond the area 62 in which the second electronic apparatus 100-2 mayperform a voice recognition. Specifically, that the user 10 utters inthe area 61 in which the first electronic apparatus 100-1 may perform avoice recognition means that the volume of the voice uttered by the user10 is higher than the standard voice volume determined in the firstelectronic apparatus 100-1. The first electronic apparatus 100-1 maydetermine to perform the voice recognition on the input voice of theuser 10.

That the user 10 uttered in the area beyond the area 62 in which thesecond electronic apparatus 100-2 may perform a voice recognition meansthat the volume of the voice uttered by the user 10 is lower than thestandard voice volume determined in the second electronic apparatus100-2. The second electronic apparatus 100-2 may determine not toperform a voice recognition on the input voice of the user 10 even ifthe voice of the user 10 is input.

The first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronic apparatus100-2 may share the result of the determination regarding whether toperform the voice recognition.

The first electronic apparatus 100-1 may determine to perform a voicerecognition on the input voice of the user 10 and display a UI screenfor receiving a confirmation on the determination result from the user.If the user confirms that the first electronic apparatus 100-1 is to becontrolled by a voice, the first electronic apparatus 100-1 mayrecognize the voice uttered by the user 10 and perform an eventcorresponding to the recognition result.

If there is no user's response for a predetermined time after displayingthe UI screen, the first electronic apparatus 100-1 may not perform avoice recognition on the voice of the user 10 and transmit theinformation that there was no response, to the second electronicapparatus 100-2, so that the second electronic apparatus 100-2 displaysthe UI for receiving the confirmation on whether to perform the voicerecognition from the user.

Accordingly, even if the electronic apparatus determined to perform thevoice recognition and the electronic apparatus that the user 10 wishesto control with a voice is not the same, the electronic apparatus to becontrolled by a voice recognition may still be identified, and thus theuser's convenience may be improved.

Referring to FIG. 8, the user 10 may utter in the overlapping area 63 ofthe area 61 corresponding to the first electronic apparatus 100-1 andthe area 62 corresponding to the second electronic apparatus 100-2.Specifically, that the user 10 uttered in the overlapping area 63 meansthat the volume of the voice uttered by the user 10 is higher than thestandard voice volume determined in the first electronic apparatus 100-1and the standard voice volume determined in the second electronicapparatus 100-2.

As such, both of the first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the secondelectronic apparatus 100-2 may perform a voice recognition, and each ofthe first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronic apparatus100-2 may determine whether to perform a voice recognition or whether toperform a process according to the voice recognition result according tothe predetermined priority order.

The predetermined priority order may be based on at least one of adisposition location of the first electronic apparatus 100-1 and thesecond electronic apparatus 100-2, a recognition result on an inputvoice, and a user's manipulation. Specifically, in a case of a generalvoice control command, the electronic apparatus in a living room mayhave a priority rather than the electronic apparatus in a room. In acase of a voice command related to a music display, the electronicapparatus of which speaker has a greater performance may have a priorityorder. In a case of a voice command related to a video display, theelectronic apparatus which has a bigger screen or greater resolution mayhave a priority order. The electronic apparatus set to have a priorityorder in advance by a user may perform process on the voice recognitionresult.

If both of the first electronic apparatus 100-1 and the secondelectronic apparatus 100-2 can perform a voice recognition, the firstelectronic apparatus 100-1 and the second electronic apparatus 100-2 maydetermine whether to perform a voice recognition or whether to performprocess on the voice recognition result based on the utterance directionof the user 10.

The description on determining the utterance direction of the user 10 isrecited in the description of FIG. 5, and thus the overlappingdescription would be omitted.

FIGS. 3 and 5 through 8 illustrate two electronic apparatuses, but alsowhen the number of the electronic apparatuses is more than two, thetechnology of an embodiment could be applied.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a method for controlling anelectronic apparatus according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 9, first, the electronic apparatus may sense thestructure of the space in S910. The structure of the sensed space may bethe structure of the space in which the electronic apparatus is located.In addition, the electronic apparatus may store the information on thestructure of the sensed space.

Next, the electronic apparatus may receive a voice in S920.Specifically, the electronic apparatus may receive the voice uttered bya user through an equipped microphone. If the electric apparatusreceives a voice in a standby mode, the electronic apparatus mayactivate the communication interface to perform communication withanother electronic apparatus.

Next, the electronic apparatus may determine whether to recognize avoice in S930. Specifically, the electronic apparatus may determinewhether to perform a voice recognition on the voice input through amicrophone based on the structure of the sensed space. Specifically, theelectronic apparatus determines the standard voice volume based on thestructure of the sensed space and if the volume of the voice inputthrough the microphone is higher than the standard voice volume, maydetermine to perform a voice recognition on the input voice.

The electronic apparatus receives the information on the voice inputfrom another electronic apparatus from the other electronic apparatusthrough the activated communication interface, and determine whether toperform a voice recognition further considering the information on thereceived voice. Specifically, if it is determined that both of theelectronic apparatus and the other electronic apparatus may perform avoice recognition on the input voice, the electronic apparatus whichwill be controlled by a user with a voice may be determined based on thepredetermined priority order or an utterance direction of the user.

If the volume of the voice input through the microphone is lower thanthe standard voice volume, the electronic apparatus may determine not toperform a voice recognition on the input voice. As such, if it isdetermined not to perform the voice recognition, the electronicapparatus may inactivate the activated communication interface andaccess a standby mode.

According to various embodiments, the electronic apparatus that a userwishes to control with a voice may be determined without an additionalsetting in the environment in which a plurality of electronicapparatuses are installed Like this, because the electronic apparatus tobe controlled with the voice command is automatically determined, theuser convenience is greatly improved.

Various embodiments described above may be implemented in a recordingmedium that may be read by a computer or a similar apparatus to thecomputer by using software, hardware, or a combination thereof.According to the hardware embodiment, embodiments that are described inthe present disclosure may be implemented by using at least one selectedfrom application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signalprocessors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs),programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors,electrical units for performing other functions. In some cases,embodiments that are described in the present disclosure may be embodiedas a processor itself. In a software embodiment, various embodimentsdescribed in the present disclosure such as a procedure and a functionmay be implemented as separate software modules. The software modulesmay respectively perform one or more functions and operations describedin the embodiments.

Instructions for controlling an electronic apparatus to perform methodsaccording to various embodiments may be stored on a non-transitoryreadable medium. The non-transitory readable medium may be installed andused in various devices.

The non-transitory computer readable medium stores data semi-permanentlyand which is readable by an apparatus. For example, a non-transitorycomputer readable medium may be a compact disc (CD), a digital videodisc (DVD), a hard disk, a Blu-ray disk, a USB memory, a memory card,ROM, or the like.

Although various embodiments of the present disclosure have beenillustrated and described hereinabove, the present disclosure is notlimited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but may be variouslymodified by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosurepertains without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosureas set forth in the accompanying claims. These modifications should alsobe understood to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic apparatus comprising: a memory; amicrophone; and a processor configured to compare a volume of a voiceinput through the microphone and a standard voice volume stored in thememory, corresponding to a space in which the electronic apparatus islocated, and identify whether to perform a voice recognition on thevoice based on the comparison.
 2. The electronic apparatus as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to, based on thevolume of the voice being greater than the standard voice volume,perform the voice recognition on the voice.
 3. The electronic apparatusas claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a communication interface,wherein the processor is further configured to, based on anotherelectronic apparatus connected through the communication interfaceindicating detection of the voice, identify whether to perform the voicerecognition based on a predetermined priority order.
 4. The electronicapparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to set the predetermined priority order based on at least onefrom among a placement location of the electronic apparatus and theanother electronic apparatus, a recognition result on the voice, and auser manipulation.
 5. The electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 3,wherein the processor is further configured to: based on the voice beinginput through the microphone while in a standby mode, activate thecommunication interface; based on identifying that the voice recognitionon the voice is to be performed, convert a mode of the electronicapparatus into a normal mode in which an entire configuration of theelectronic apparatus is activated; and based on identifying that thevoice recognition on the voice is not to be performed, inactivate thecommunication interface.
 6. The electronic apparatus as claimed in claim3, further comprising a sensor configured to sense a size of the spacein which the electronic apparatus is located.
 7. The electronicapparatus as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a display, whereinthe processor is further configured to, based on identifying that thevoice recognition on the voice is to be performed, control the displayto display a UI screen requesting a confirmation on whether to performthe voice recognition.
 8. The electronic apparatus as claimed in claim7, wherein the processor is further configured to, based on theconfirmation not being received within a set time after displaying theUI screen, not perform the voice recognition on the voice, and controlthe communication interface to transmit information to the anotherelectronic apparatus indicating the confirmation has not been received.9. The electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: asensor; and a communication interface, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to, based on another electronic apparatus connected throughthe communication interface indicating detection of the voice, identifyan utterance direction of a user by using the sensor, and identifywhether to perform the voice recognition based on the utterancedirection.
 10. The electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising a communication interface configured to receive sizeinformation from a sensor configured to sense a size of the space inwhich the electronic apparatus is located.
 11. The electronic apparatusas claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to,based on identifying the voice as a trigger voice, perform the voicerecognition without comparing the voice input through the microphonewith the standard voice volume.
 12. A method for controlling anelectronic apparatus, the method comprising: receiving a voice inputthrough a microphone of the electronic apparatus; comparing a volume ofthe voice and a standard voice volume corresponding to a space in whichthe electronic apparatus is located; and identifying whether to performa voice recognition on the voice based on the comparing.
 13. The methodas claimed in claim 12, further comprising, based on the volume of thevoice being greater than the standard voice volume, recognizing thevoice.
 14. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the identifyingcomprises, based on another electronic apparatus indicating detection ofthe voice, identifying whether to perform the voice recognition based ona predetermined priority order.
 15. The method as claimed in claim 14,further comprising setting the predetermined priority order based on atleast one from among a placement location of the electronic apparatusand the another electronic apparatus, a recognition result on the voice,and a user manipulation.
 16. The method as claimed in claim 14, furthercomprising sensing a size of the space in which the electronic apparatusis located.
 17. The method as claimed in claim 12, further comprisingidentifying, based on another electronic apparatus indicating detectionof the voice, an utterance direction of a user, wherein the identifyingwhether to perform the voice recognition is based on the utterancedirection.
 18. The method as claimed in claim 12, further comprisingreceiving size information from a sensor configured to sense a size ofthe space in which the electronic apparatus is located.
 19. The methodas claimed in claim 12, wherein the identifying comprises performing thevoice recognition based on identifying the voice as a trigger voice. 20.A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having embodiedthereon a program, which when executed by a processor of an electronicapparatus, causes the electronic apparatus to execute a methodincluding: receiving a voice input through a microphone of theelectronic apparatus; comparing a volume of the voice and a standardvoice volume corresponding to a space in which the electronic apparatusis located; and identifying whether to perform a voice recognition onthe voice based on the comparing.
 21. An electronic apparatuscomprising: a memory; an interface; and a processor configured toidentify whether to perform a voice recognition on a voice signalreceived through the interface based on a standard voice level stored inthe memory and the voice signal.
 22. The electronic apparatus as claimedin claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to perform thevoice recognition on the voice signal based on a level of the voicesignal exceeding the standard voice level.
 23. The electronic apparatusas claimed in claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured toperform the voice recognition on the voice signal based on a level ofthe voice signal exceeding the standard voice level and corresponding toa trigger command.
 24. The electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 21,wherein the processor is further configured to identify a direction of auser based on the voice signal, and identify whether to perform thevoice recognition on the voice signal based on the direction.
 25. Theelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein the processor isfurther configured to control the interface to notify another electronicapparatus that the voice signal has been received, receive anotification from the other electronic apparatus indicating whether theother electronic apparatus has received the voice signal, and identifywhether to perform the voice recognition on the voice signal based onthe notification received from the other electronic apparatus.
 26. Theelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim 25, further comprising adisplay, wherein the processor is further configured to identify whetherto perform the voice recognition by controlling a confirmation screen tobe displayed on the display based on the voice signal being received,and a confirmation voice signal received through the interface.